Princess Yongxing


Lady Xu, better known as Princess Yongxing, was the fourth daughter of Li Bian, the usurper who seized power from the Wu dynasty ruling house to found the Southern Tang dynasty. Princess Yongxing had married the Wu crown prince Yang Lian, and after the usurpation in 937 she stayed loyal to him even though she was elevated to a princess while he was demoted to "Commandery Duke of Hongnong". It has been said that she inevitably started crying every time people mentioned her by the new title "princess", conferred by her father, much to the chagrin of her older brother Li Jing. Her father reportedly called her a "good wife". When Yang Lian was banished to Chi Prefecture, she followed him there. She died "without an illness" shortly after her husband died under suspicious circumstances.